Skip to Main Content
Frequently Asked Questions
Submit an ETD
Global Search Box
Need Help?
Keyword Search
Participating Institutions
Advanced Search
School Logo
Files
File List
bgsu1250636642.pdf (1.75 MB)
ETD Abstract Container
Abstract Header
Autonomy and the Utilitarian State
Author Info
Weimer, Steven
Permalink:
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1250636642
Abstract Details
Year and Degree
2009, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, Philosophy.
Abstract
One objection to utilitarianism as a public philosophy is that utilitarian political institutions would likely deny people the opportunity to lead autonomous lives. A state guided by utilitarianism, it is thought, would likely resemble that we find in Brave New World: a state that exercises autonomy-denying control of its subjects' lives, but does so in a way that keeps them in a relatively permanent state of bliss. Against this objection, this dissertation argues that, at least in contemporary developed societies, a utilitarian state would have good indirect reasons to secure social conditions which will enable the bulk of its subjects to lead substantially autonomous lives. The aim of the first half of the dissertation is to identify an adequate conception of autonomy. I develop an account of autonomous agency according to which the autonomy of a pro-attitude is a function of (among other things) the number, variety, and degree of viability of the alternatives the agent has had available for rational consideration; and the autonomy of an agent is a function of (among other things) the autonomy of her individual pro-attitudes, with the more central of these weighted accordingly. The second half of the dissertation addresses the social conditions conducive to autonomy and the utilitarian value of those conditions. Because autonomous agency requires the availability of viable alternatives to many, including many of the more central, of an agent's pro-attitudes, conditions of social diversity will be particularly conducive to autonomy. I defend two Millian suggestions as to how such conditions might be of utilitarian value: by better enabling the members of society to identify and adopt appropriate pursuits and by promoting social progress. I argue that, at least in contemporary developed societies, a utilitarian state would thus have good reason to protect and/or promote conditions of social diversity, and outline a collection of policies that would enable it to effectively do so. As such conditions are conducive to autonomy as well as to utility, a utilitarian state therefore would have good, indirect, reasons to secure social conditions which will enable the bulk of its subjects to lead substantially autonomous lives.
Committee
Steven Wall (Committee Chair)
Daniel Jacobson (Committee Member)
Fred Miller, Jr. (Committee Member)
Daniel Fasko (Committee Member)
Pages
365 p.
Subject Headings
Philosophy
Keywords
autonomy
;
utilitarianism
;
social diversity
;
social progress
;
john stuart mill
Recommended Citations
Refworks
EndNote
RIS
Mendeley
Citations
Weimer, S. (2009).
Autonomy and the Utilitarian State
[Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1250636642
APA Style (7th edition)
Weimer, Steven.
Autonomy and the Utilitarian State.
2009. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation.
OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center
, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1250636642.
MLA Style (8th edition)
Weimer, Steven. "Autonomy and the Utilitarian State." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1250636642
Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
Abstract Footer
Document number:
bgsu1250636642
Download Count:
5,014
Copyright Info
© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.